


Hidden Behind a Thousand Lies

by kereia



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Arguing, First Order Poe Dameron, Idiots in Love, Intergluteal Sex, M/M, Swearing, blatant theft of TLJ plot points
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-09
Updated: 2018-09-09
Packaged: 2019-07-05 12:55:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15864045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kereia/pseuds/kereia
Summary: "Maker, that is one fine pilot you've got there," Canady breathed, his voice low enough so only Hux would hear him. "I don't think I've ever seen the like."Hux gritted his teeth."Whatever you do, don't let him hear that," he replied in matching tones. "He's an undisciplined rake, and his ego is insufferable enough as it is."Poe Dameron is an ace pilot in the First Order's Black Squadron attack wing, and General Hux is his commanding officer who really, really,reallyloathes the idea of having to pin another medal on his uniform.





	Hidden Behind a Thousand Lies

**Author's Note:**

  * For [musamihi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/musamihi/gifts).



"Enemy fighters have engaged the perimeter defences, sir."

"Planetary squadrons are taking heavy loses."

"Orbital defences are down."

"They've started evacuating the shipyard."

Hux listened to the reports filtering in as the _Finalizer_ dropped out of hyperspace next to the orbital shipyard above Rothana.

Maintaining his position in the middle of the bridge, he calmly issued orders to engage the enemy forces that had attacked a planet which was under the First Order's -- and by extension under his -- protection.

Rothana was their most advanced shipyard, repossessed by the First Order, long after the Empire had abandoned it. The _Finalizer_ had been en route to take possession of the latest ship that was about to leave the orbital dock, when the distress signal had reached them.

According to the message they had intercepted, a saboteur had disabled Rothana's stationary defence systems leaving the planet unprotected save for the four TIE-fighter squadrons the First Order had tasked with the shipyard's defence.

Personally, Hux had always considered this too little protection in view of the shipyard's importance, but Ren and Snoke had disagreed, choosing to rely on the planet's remote location, its insular population, and the indifference of the senate to keep Rothana out of the public eye.

His concerns had been dismissed, his advocacy for a larger First Order presence in the system had been denied, and here they were, one lone Star Destroyer and a few hundred starfighters trying to stop what seemed to be the entire Resistance fleet from crippling the First Order's production of Siege Dreadnoughts.

He felt little vindication at having his concerns validated.

"The shipyard has priority," he said as he took in the frenzied battle playing out before him. "Target the X-wings closest to it, and send our TIE fighters to intercept all enemy spacecraft on the planetary side of the dock."

"Yes, sir."

His orders were relayed with practiced efficiency.

 _Just as it ought to be_ , he noted in silent satisfaction.

As one of the First Order's youngest generals, it was important to him that he projected an air of calm confidence at all times. It was his responsibility to keep everyone focused and able to perform their tasks promptly and without question, and he was good at it. In fact, he prided himself on this ability, and held nothing but scorn for loose-tempered maniacs like Ren, who couldn't keep their emotions in check, and had everyone aboard ship treading as if on egg shells around them.

In spite of his age, Hux had earned his crew's respect through his firm and steady leadership and by providing a solid counterpoint to Ren's erratic volatility. The latter was an admittedly low bar to pass, but Hux didn't care to dwell on things that were outside his influence. Ren's presence on the _Finalizer_ was a nuisance, but it was one with which he had to put up. Supreme Leader Snoke's orders where not to be questioned.

At least not out loud.

Perhaps not even in the dubious privacy of one's mind.

Half of the enemy fleet suddenly broke away from the shipyard, altering course to engage the _Finalizer_.

Hux permitted himself the faintest of smiles.

 _Come and get it_ , he thought.

He didn't say it out loud, of course. Such a display of juvenile smugness would have not only been unpardonable, but gone against every fibre of the competent and self-assured persona of the First Order general he'd so carefully cultivated.

However, on the inside, Hux had never quite let go of the twelve year old boy, who'd hidden himself away from the bullying of his fellow cadets and staged rousing space battles full of valiant heroes and their death-defying triumphs inside his mind. Though he had ultimately pursued a political path that had allowed him to climb up the chain of command much faster then a fighter pilot would, it still gave him a secret thrill every time he took the _Finalizer_ into battle.

He watched as the _Finalizer_ 's shields lit up under enemy fire, then staggered to the side as the ship unexpectedly lurched beneath the impact of laser canons that should have never penetrated those very same shields.

"Status report," he barked as he found his balance again and tried to ignore the fact that he'd been no more than a couple of inches away from an undignified tumble into the one of the bridge's lowered operations pits.

"According to my instruments, our shields are fully operational," one of his lieutenants called up to him in confusion.

"Hull breaches on decks four, five, seven and nine," Petty Officer Thanisson reported. Hux could hear the strain in the young man's voice.

The ship shuddered beneath his feet as the X-wings continued their run along the _Finalizer_ 's flanks.

"I can't explain it, Sir. I don't know how they're getting through."

"Life support is failing on deck nine," came another report. "Communications are down."

"They're targeting our turbolaser batteries."

Hux fixed his gaze on Captain Phasma, who was standing motionless by the elevator doors, her body a seemingly unmovable object even in the heat of battle.

"Take a team and get down to the shield generators. Find out what the problem is." He turned to Lieutenant Mitaka, who had been coordinating with the shipyard's TIE-sqauardron's. "Are emergency channels still open?"

"Yes, Sir. Though reception has been unreliable."

Hux gritted his teeth.

The elevator opened to reveal Captain Moden Canady, the _Fulminatirx_ 's future commander. Phasma stepped around him to carry out the orders she'd been given, while Canady's gaze found him.

"With your permission?" he asked.

Hux gave him a curt nod, and Canady stepped onto the bridge.

"Sent Black Squadron to intercept," he told Mitaka.

"Aye, Sir."

As Canady stepped up behind him, Hux turned back to the viewport. To his relief, he could already see the entire Black Squadron battle wing changing course, breaking away from the shipyard, and returning to the _Finalizer_. He watched his own ship's ion canons swivel on their hull mounted supports, taking out more X-wings than they left unscathed.

"Sir," Mitaka called up to him from his console. "According to our long range sensors, there are more ships approaching. They'll drop out of hyperspace momentarily."

His jaw tensed. "Acknowledged," he bit out.

His mind was racing. He didn't want to abandon the shipyard or the Siege Dreadnought that was so close to completion, but he couldn't justify sacrificing the _Finalizer_ and it's entire compliment of crew in order to save it.

"Would be a shame to lose her," Canady said regretfully, his thoughts apparently running along the same lines.

"We'll try not to," Hux replied, unwilling to abandon their defence of the shipyard just yet. If he had no other choice, he would focus their efforts on eliminating the Resistance fleet, but that second wave of ships hadn't dropped out of hyperspace, yet. There was still time.

A star fighter exploded right in front of the viewport, making them all flinch away from the sudden glare burning into their retinas. A heartbeat later, one of Black Squadron's TIE-fighters rushed past, the tip of its wing mere inches from the transparisteel that separated them from the cold vacuum of space.

Canady sucked in a deep breath, while the TIE ran the gauntlet between the X-wings who had looped back to take a second run at them. While other TIEs supported the assault from the outside, boxing in the X-wings, the lone vessel wove in and out of the enemy fighters, expertly evading their cannon fire and narrowly avoiding getting clipped on more than one occasion. It was a daring display of skill and confidence, and even Hux had to admit that it looked... impressive.

_Reckless._

_Dangerous._

_A touch flamboyant._

_Definitely unprofessional._

He clenched his fists hard enough for his leather gloves to creak when another X-wing exploded and the TIE, instead of changing course – which would have been the rational thing to do – carried on through, heedless of the debris in its path. To everyone's surprise but Hux's, the vessel emerged unscathed.

"Maker, that is one fine pilot you've got there," Canady breathed, his voice low enough so only Hux would hear him. "I don't think I've ever seen the like."

Hux gritted his teeth. 

"Whatever you do, don't let him hear that," he replied in matching tones. "He's an undisciplined rake, and his ego is insufferable enough as it is."

  
  


* * *

 

  
"And I swear to you, there was a moment, when those bombers dropped out of hyperspace, that I thought we were done for."

Hux strode into the medbay, his back ramrod straight, as he took in Poe Dameron, Leader of Black Squadron and eternal pain in his backside, who was sitting sideways on the exam table. A medical droid hovered next to him, finishing up a suture in Dameron's shoulder.

 _And, of course, he can't just let the droid do its job in peace_ , Hux thought sourly. _No, he has to chat with the damn thing._

"You see, with most of the _Finalizer_ 's turboblasters down, there's only so much you can do. I mean some of them were going to get through no matter what, and you know how those babies are _armed to the teeth_. I only wish Black One could do half as much damage. But, you know, that kind of weaponry would seriously compromise my TIE's maneuverability, so it's not _really_ worth it, but still, a guy can dream right?" Dameron continued animatedly as if he didn't know that a superior officer had entered the room.  
  
_Bastard._

"Achieving REM sleep is a vital component of a your sleep cycle, Captain Dameron. Not only can you dream, but it is imperative that you do."

"Right," Poe replied with a grin. He finally looked at Hux and winked at him.

As if they'd just shared a joke. As if that was a perfectly acceptable thing to do.

Hux felt his jaw tense. _The audacity of the man!_

"So, anyway, _then_ I thought, well that Dreadnought is almost finished. I mean, the entire reason we were on our way to Rothana in the first place was to drop off her captain and crew, so it stood to reason that the weapons systems should be operational. I mean that's basically all a Dreadnought is, right? One giant weapon? So, my buddy Snap and I, we dove right into that hanger bay – looks real sweet, by the way – and we ran up to the bridge. Can you believe they were actually evacuating the ship? A mega-class Dreadnought – most lethal ship in the galaxy – and they were abandoning it. Civilians, I tell you."

He stopped rambling just long enough to draw breath and shake his head in disbelief.

"Anyway, Snap and I got those weapons online, and I took command of the ship, because, my friend," and he jovially slapped the meddroid's back hard enough to make it stagger, "when you get the chance to fly an actual Dreadnought, you've got to take it."

"Even if it means disobeying a direct order," Hux finished acerbically.

"Ah now, General, of course I would have obeyed your orders, had I actually heard them," Dameron said with a perfectly straight face.

Hux wasn't fooled for a second.

"I am sorry to inform you that my own, as well as Lieutenant Wexley's, com systems failed apparently just at the very same moment your orders where supposed to come in, and while we deeply regret that we couldn't comply with them, allow me to assure you that we tasked an engineer to fix those coms the very second we returned to..."

"Leave us," Hux snapped at the droid.

To his credit (whatever little he deserved for it) Dameron stop talking.

The meddroid looked up at him, a sealed bacta patch in his hands, and if Hux hadn't known better, he would have sworn the bloody thing actually seemed startled by his tone.

"Of course, General," it said. It carefully placed the bacta patch onto the medical tray by the exam table and left the room without another word.

Looking over his shoulder, Hux waited until the door slid shut behind it, ensuring that they would not be overheard.

"Now, in my defence..." Dameron started.

"Save your breath," Hux interrupted him. "There is no excuse for what you did."

"Communications _were_ down more than once during that battle."

"They weren't when I gave the order to take out the bombers."

"You can't possibly know that, and technically, we _did_ take out those bombers."

"I know when you're lying, and you endangered everyone on this ship and risked losing the _Fulminat_ _ri_ _x_ as well as the entire shipyard with your reckless stunt. You didn't know that those weapons systems were operational. You could have lost us the entire battle because you're a cocky, thick-headed glory hound, who always goes for the most brazen option available, even if there's a perfectly suitable alternative. What if you'd been wrong?" Hux asked his voice rising. "What if you had failed?"

Dameron met his furious gaze head on. "I didn't."

"At the expanse of how many lives?" Hux challenged. "It took you seven minutes to board the _Fulminat_ _ri_ _x_ and get her systems online. I know that I don't have to tell you how long seven minutes are when you're taking fire, but have you actually looked at the list of casualties? Do you know how much damage those bombers did to the _Finalizer_ while you and Wexl ey _abandoned your posts_ , Captain? How many Black Squadron pilots died while they were trying to cover your positions?"

It gave him little satisfaction to see Dameron's jaw clench as the Black Squadron leader swallowed whatever cocky remark he'd planned to throw in his face.

They stared at each other, faces mere inches apart.

Dameron looked away first, but Hux knew him too well to believe they were done.

In confirmation of this expectation, Dameron straightened and came to attention for the first time since Hux had walked into the room. "Permission to speak freely, General."

Hux deliberated for a short moment, but decided that it was best to settle the issue once and for all.

"Permission granted," he said and clasped his hands behind his back.

"You can't always play it safe, Armitage."

There was no challenge in Dameron's tone, but the use of his first name made Hux glance at the door of the medbay for a second. Not that it mattered. Their entire conversation up to that point had been anything but professional, and had anyone overheard them... well, the cat would have been out of the bag.

"Those bombers would have takes the _Finalizer_ down and the shipyard right after. We were outnumbered," Dameron continued. "Taking a gamble on the Dreadnought's battle readiness was the lesser of two evils. It would have cost more lives, if I hadn't done it."

Hux pressed his lips into a thin line. "You think you saved my ass out there."

Poe threw up his hands. "I tried to save all of us."

Hux chewed on that for a second. They had won the battle; he couldn't deny that. And the com failure was plausible enough that neither Poe nor Wexley would suffer any consequences, unless Hux pressed the issue. Whether Poe's assessment of the situation had been correct or not, the day had ended in victory, and Dameron had covered his bases, which was one of many reasons, why it didn't sit right with Hux. It wasn't just that Dameron had upstaged him, and that Hux was the only one who knew about it, it was the niggling in the back of his mind, that he might be right.

Was he playing it safe? Was he too cautious? Afraid to take risks? Too comfortable on the bridge of his Star Destroyer to be an effective commander?

It didn't help that his brain decided to replace Poe's voice with the memory of his father.

_"You can't play it safe, Armitage. You have to be decisive, aggressive, uncompromising. Doubt is for the weak. Hesitation leads only to failure."_

He pushed the memory away.

"Sit down," he said with a sigh.

Poe complied, eyeing him warily. "Why _did_ the coms fizz out on us?" he finally asked.

Hux glared at him for a moment, but allowed the subject change. "For the same reasons the shields failed. The shipyard wasn't the only place the Resistance planted a saboteur. There was another one hiding among the crew members who were going to be assigned to the _Fulminatrix_. Phasma is interrogating them now."

Poe nodded as Hux tore open the packaging that contained the bacta patch.

"Just so we're clear, victory or not, if it were up to me, I'd demote you for your insubordination today."

Poe visibly relaxed. "Ah, so that's why you're _really_ mad at me."

Hux froze. His eyes narrowed. "There are so many reasons that I am utterly _furious_ with you, it would take me all day to list them," he clarified.

Grabbing Poe's arm roughly, he covered the suture with the bacta patch. He was anything but gentle doing so, but Poe didn't even wince.

Instead, a rakish grin appeared on his face. "I believe you, but the reason that pisses you off the most _right now_ is that it's apparently _not_ up to you to demote me." He tilted his head askance. " _Why_ isn't it up to you?"

"Because Captain Canady was on the bridge when Snoke 'requested' a status report. Apparently, he's quite taken with you."

"Sang my praises, did he?"

Hux glared at him. "You are to be promoted to Commander."

A smile of pure delight crossed Poe's face. "I am?"

"There will be a medal ceremony."

"Another one?" There was that damned wink again.

"Stop being an insufferable prick," Hux snapped, caustically.

Poe was entirely unfazed by his rebuke. He jumped off the exam table.

"I've got to get that dress uniform ironed, then," he said, and as he walked past Hux, he reached out and gave Hux's ass a playful slap.

"Damn you, Dameron," he hissed and whirled around, pitching his voice low at the last second as the medbay doors slid open.

Dameron pivoted on his heels and gave him a precise salute. "Sir. Yes, Sir," he shouted. And then he was gone, leaving a fuming Hux in his wake.

The man was going to be the death of him.

He'd already compromised himself once, back on the bridge when Canady had first expressed his admiration for Poe's flying. His reply had been unprofessional, and putting it down to the tension of the moment was simply not an excuse that Hux would allow himself.

Furthermore, Dameron's brazen confidence in his abilities made Hux doubt his own qualities for leadership, and that was something that he could not forgive. And his irreverence, while initially holding a certain amount of charm, was getting out of hand.

A solution had to be found.  
  


 

* * *

 

The doors to Hux's quarters had barely closed behind them, before Hux grabbed Poe by the lapels of his dress uniform, pushed him up against the wall, and crushed his mouth to Poe's.

Neither one of them cared that the kiss was bruising enough for their teeth to clank together. Instead, Poe's hands went into Hux's meticulously slicked back hair as he ground his hips against him. He caught Hux's lower lip between his own, sucking the plush flesh into his mouth until Hux moaned.

When they finally came up for air, Poe was grinning from ear to ear. Their faces remained close enough for them to feel each other's panting breaths, even as Poe reached for the fastenings of Hux's uniform.

"I was wondering when that stoic mask of yours would crack," he said smugly. "Don't get me wrong; you play a good game. And that was a lovely speech, but when you got to the part about courage and valour, I was worried that you would choke on your own words."

Poe's nimble hands worked fast as Hux growled at him. He pushed Hux against the opposite wall and wrapped his fingers around Hux's erection, finding his cock already half hard and precome slick against his palm.

"Tell me," he asked, a laugh in his voice, "how badly did you want to shove that medal down my throat?"

"I would have loved to shove it somewhere else," Hux snapped. His head fell back against the bulkhead as he thrust his cock into Poe's grip.

"I don't know, Armitage, it's a pretty big medal. If you shove it up my ass, there wouldn't be any room left for you."

"Oh, for heaven's sake, will you shut up already."

Poe nipped at the underside of Hux's jaw as he worked his hand along Hux's rapidly hardening length.

"Not going to happen, General. I have it on very good authority that you like it when I get mouthy." His tongue took a warm, wet swipe across Hux's bobbing Adam's apple. "Though I could be persuaded to put my mouth to a different use." He winked rakishly up at him. "If you asked nicely."

Hux fisted both his hands in Poe's hair and shut him up with a hard, desperate kiss.

"Clothes off. Now," he ordered sternly, and for once, Poe didn't argue.

"On the bed. Hands and knees."

Of course, Poe's silent acquiescence would only go so far.

"Is that the part you love most about being a general?" Poe asked, clearly amused. He divested himself of his uniform, carelessly dropping it on the floor while he walked over to Hux's bed. Crawling onto the black silk sheets, he gave him a look across his shoulder that was equal parts challenge and invitation. "Giving orders?"

Shrugging out of his military coat, Hux folded the garment carefully over the back of a chair. He didn't undress any further, only pulled his cock free of his trousers and reached for the bottle of lubricant he kept in his bedside drawer.

"I like having my orders obeyed," he said reflectively. "A task that seems to be exceptionally challenging for you."

He coated his throbbing cock in the thick liquid, groaning in pleasure as the cool gel absorbed the heat of his body.

"Don't pretend you don't find it charming," Poe huffed. He was still kneeling upright on the bed, giving Hux a good view as he worked his hand over his own cock, the tip bobbing against his taut stomach on every upstroke.

Hux felt his mouth go dry as he watched the sensual display, and his balls grew tight with the need to find release. He quickly strode to the edge of the bed, and placed a firm hand between Poe's shoulder blades, pushing him down.

Poe caught himself on his hands and wriggled his ass in the air. He moaned softly and arched his back when Hux coated the seam between his cheeks with lube.

"However I may regard your flippant attitude in private, it cannot have any baring on our professional relationship," Hux chastised him, his tone severe. "You refuse to comport yourself in a professional manner around me. I am your superior officer, not some drunken hook-up you met in a bar."

Pulling Poe's ass cheeks apart, Hux placed his cock between them and pushed on either side to bring them tightly back together. He thrust into the warm seam and groaned at the delicious friction that pulled his foreskin back and forth along his shaft.

Poe was panting and pushing back against him. "To be fair," he gasped, "that's pretty much exactly how we..."

"It doesn't matter," Hux interrupted him. He thrust harder, watching the tip of his cock appear and disappear between Poe's firm buttocks. The sight alone was almost enough to make him come.

"You're undisciplined," he continued, his breath laboured, his fingers digging into Poe's hips hard enough to leave bruises. "You tell me that I'm playing it safe, but it's you who's reckless, cocky, heedless of your own limitations. Flying through an exploding starfighter as if it where no more than a cloud, rather than a minefield of shrapnel that could tear you apart."

"Fuck," Poe cursed. He pushed hard against Hux, trying to angle his hips differently, one hand reaching for his own cock to relief the pressure.

Hux would have none of that. He bore down on Poe, reaching below him to slap his hand away and pushing him face first into the mattress. Poe moaned. His hands clenched in the sheets.

"Careful, General," he panted. "You almost sound as if you care. If you... fuck... if you keep talking like that, I might get the wrong idea about this relationship."

"You already have the wrong idea about this relationship," Hux growled. "And it's my own fault. I've let... I've let it go on for too long. Indulged you. Let myself be weak." He gasped, biting off the words tumbling from his mouth. A sense of shame filled him, and his hips jerked erratically as he quickened his pace to a near frenzy.

Poe shuddered beneath him. "Can we... can we finish this conversation later? Fuck it, Hux, I need your cock. Just give me your damn cock already."

"Why should you get anything out of this?" Hux snapped. "You already got a medal. For disobeying orders, no less."

"Damn it, Armitage. You really need to let that go."

" _Damn you_ ," Hux groaned. He felt his balls draw tight, felt the heat in his abdomen spread to the base of his spine. His thighs seized as he shoved his cock frantically between Poe's buttocks, chasing his release. Just one more thrust, one more slide against Poe's firm, warm skin...

"Damn you and you're fucking smirk."

He came with a breathless, silent shout and spilled himself all over Poe's lower back.

Bent over Poe's body, it took him a moment before he caught his breath and pulled away only to collapse on the mattress next to him.

Poe rolled to the side, his own cock still hard and red and pulsing with unsatisfied arousal. There was an indecipherable expression on his face.

To his consternation, Hux couldn't quite meet his eyes. "What?" he barked roughly, more roughly than he had intended.

"You're not weak," Poe said levelly.

"I didn't say I w..."

Poe cut him off. "You did. And what's worse, you're trying to make me responsible for it." For once, there was no wink, no audacious smile, or anything even remotely facetious about his manner. "I am not going to let you do either."

Still not meeting his gaze, Hux tugged himself back into his trousers. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Poe took a deep breath, and this uncharacteristic show of nerves was what finally made Hux look at him.

"You are a good commanding officer. You're respected. You get the job done, and you actually spare a thought or two for the people under your command, which is more than I can say for most of the officers under whom I served, but.." sitting up, he visibly steeled himself for whatever he was going to say next, " you will never be able to please your father, Armitage."

The anger was instantaneous.

In the back of his mind, Hux knew that it was a knee-jerk reaction, cultivated over decades of idolizing a man, who never hesitated to make his disappointment in his son known.

"Don't bring my father into this," he snapped.

Poe's face turned grim with resolve. "You better believe I'm going to bring him into this. He's the only reason you ever doubt yourself. He's the reason you're trying to have me shipped off to the _Fulminatrix_."

At Hux's guilty look, Poe nodded. "Yeah, I know about that. Canady told me how pleased he was when you offered to have me reassigned."

"It's better for both of us this way. You've become... a distraction."

"You _need_ a distraction every now and then. Everyone does. No one can be on the clock every damn minute of every day, Armitage. There's more to life than your career."

For all their arguing, Hux didn't recall ever actually seeing Poe angry before. There was a part of him that was almost pleased with the notion that he had finally managed to get underneath Poe's skin, that he wasn't as unaffected by whatever it was they had between them as he always appeared to be.

For the most part, though, he didn't know what to make of Poe's anger.

"Be that as it may, I can't let you compromise my authority on this ship. Your attitude has been bordering on insolent, lately, and I can't let that go on."

"Fine. I'll stop."

Hux's gaze snapped up to Poe, who shrugged.

"If that's what it takes... I'll stop."

Hux scoffed. "You couldn't if you tried."

Poe's eyes narrowed. "Is that a challenge? Because you better believe that I'm up for it."

Hux looked at him, genuinely taken aback. "If I didn't know better, I'd almost believe that you're serious."

"I _am_ serious." Poe flopped back onto the mattress and tugged at his own hair in what Hux could only describe as exasperation. "Look, I... damn it. I know I've pushed it too far. I let it get out of hand. But it's not as if I _have to_ be this way. I can be professional."

"Then why take it this far at all?" Hux asked.

Poe's jaw clenched. He stared up at the ceiling.

"Protecting myself, I guess," he finally said somewhat begrudgingly.

Hux sat up, his chest tight as he stared down at him, utterly flabbergasted. "Protecting yourself from what?"

"Oh, fuck you, Armitage. As if you don't know."

"Apparently I don't."

"Bullshit. You're the one who always acts as if I'm a nuisance – as if you loathe every damn minute you spend with me. So, you'll have to forgive me for not writing you any sonnets, or whatever it is people do these days when they're in love." He shrugged again, completely ignoring Hux's stunned expression. "I figured that if I pretend hard enough that I don't care, either, it would be easier to walk away. Though, I guess, now that we're here that didn't turn out too well."

Hux was silent for a long moment.

"Guess we're both idiots," he finally offered hesitantly.

Poe craned his neck to look up at him from his reclining position. "Are we?"

Swallowing heavily, Hux nodded.

Poe huffed out a self-deprecating laugh. "Well, that's.." he cleared his throat. "That's not how I expected this conversation to go." He pushed himself up onto his elbows. "Does that mean, you're not going to send me away?"

Hux took a deep breath. He wasn't really sure what to do with the sudden lightness in his chest. It was an unfamiliar feeling, and he found it more than a little unnerving to allow himself even this small measure of vulnerability.

"You can stay," he said thickly. He pinned Poe with an uncompromising look. "If you keep your word, you can stay."

It was a measure of Poe's sincerity that he didn't even try to make light of the situation. "Consider it done."

He held Hux gaze, until eventually, the corners of his mouth did quirk up. "When we're alone though..." he waggled his eyebrows meaningfully. It was an entirely ridiculous gesture.

Hux groaned and rolled his eyes. His own mouth lifting into an almost reluctant smile, he decided to play along.

"I know. No one can be on the clock every damn minute of every day," he parroted Poe's earlier words.

"Does that mean I'll finally be able to get you to relax a little?" Poe asked as he rolled onto his stomach and crawled across the mattress towards him.

Hux felt his pulse speed up as he watched the muscles move beneath Poe's skin. His long fingers curled into his sheets.

"It means you can try," Hux replied and pulled him into a slow, deep kiss.

A series of high-pitched chirping noises interrupted them.

"Want to see if we can scandalize your girlfriend?" Poe asked, his mouth hovering above Hux's parted lips.

Hux pushed him back and studiously ignored the heat rising into his cheeks.

"I believe we've already scandalized her quite enough," he said as he slipped off the mattress and scooped up the porg that had waddled into his bedroom.

"Did I forget to feed you, Millie?" he asked in a crooning voice that had Poe burying his head in the sheets to muffle his laughter.

Hux threw him a dirty look. "Watch it. You're the one who gave her to me."

"Oh, I'm not complaining, " Poe said. "I knew you'd love that bird more than me, the moment I saw the look on your face when I handed her over."

Hux hesitated in the doorway.

Just before he stepped into the main room to feed his pet, he looked back at Poe.

"You're wrong about that."

 


End file.
